John zimmerman



(No Model.)

J. ZIMMERMAN. SHEET METAL GAN- Patented July 13, 1897.

km; 2% mwyij UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ZIMMERMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL KEY-OPENING CAN COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SHEET- METAL CAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 586,326, dated July 13, 1897.

Application filed September 15, 1893. Renewed March 25, 1895. Serial No. 543,163. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ZIMMERMAN, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Metal Cans; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates mainly to caps employed to cover and close the filling-holes in the heads of sheet-metal cans; and it has for its primary object to provide a construction in such caps whereby they may be conveniently detached, so that the same hole that has been used in filling the can may be again used to discharge its contents. It has been heretofore proposed to remove the entire cap as a whole, but in no case has this proven practicable, and such constructions are not in successful use. To obviate the difficulty in such constructions,I propose to make the margin of the cap detachable in the form of an annular strip, to which strip the holdingsolder is confined, so that by the removal of such marginal strip the entire cap is removed in'parts.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a practical formof my invention, Figure 1 is a plan View of a can-head provided with a filling-hole which is covered by a cap soldered to the marginal hole and provided with my improvement. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the can-head with the cap absent. Fig. 3 is a section of the can-head and cap secured thereon, the section being taken in the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cap detached.

A represents the can-head, and A the fillinghole therein through which the contents are introduced into the can.

B is the cap.

In the form of the invention here described the can-head is shown as having the usual V- shaped depression or groove a, surrounding the filling-hole A, the inner wall a of said groove presenting the surface of a truncated cone. The cap B has its margin bent clownwardly to the same angle as the conical Wall a of the groove a in the can-head, so that when said cap is placed over the hole the under conical surface of the margin of the cap bears closely and broadly upon the conical surface of the can-head. Around the cap is formeda weakened line b, which embraces a circle smaller than the hole A in the can-head, and preferably the inclined or conical portion of the cap extends inwardly tothis weakened line, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4B. This weakened line bis for the purpose of making a marginal strip or portion B of the cap detachable, and said weakened line is located inwardly a distance from the edge of the filling-hole A in order that the solder, which is applied between the opposing conical surfaces of the cap and can-head and by which the cap is secured to the can-head, may not secure the central body of the cap as well as the marginal strip B thereof to the can-head. The inner edge of the filling-hole and the weakened line which forms the inner boundary of the marginal strip B may be otherwise removed asuitable distance from each other with the same effect, but the construction and form shown are preferred.

The marginal detachable strip B of the cap is provided with a tongue B one edge of which may, if desired, connect with the weakened line b by a weakened line b, or a slit in the place indicated by such line may extend into or across the conical portion of the cap in line with said edge of the tongue to facilitate the initial rupture of the metal, although neithera weakened line nor a slit is essential. The tongue from the extreme edge of the cap is bent upwardly and then outwardly, so that when the cap is applied to the can-head having the groove a said tongue presents no 0bstruction to the application of the cap, but, on the other hand, conforms to the surface of the can-head. The cap so constructed and placed over the fillinghole A of the can-head is soldered to the latter in the usual manner, and when it is desired to open the can a suitable key or other instrument is made to seize the tongue 13*, and by it the detachable strip B is torn away from the can-head and from the central part of the cap, and as the solder does not reach to or hold the said central portion of the cap the latter is also released and the original filling-hole is made available for the abstraction of the contents of the can, as it had previously been used for their introduction.

An especial advantage of the construction herein set forth is that the can is adapted to be used again for refilling, since being grooved and stiffened around the filling-hole its form is not disturbed by the removal of the detachable strip from the cap, and only the cap therefore is injured or destroyed. My invention, however, is not restricted to a can having thegrooves a and a cap having its marginal detachable portion inclined or conical.

Another advantage of the invention is the small cost at which it may be applied to cans and similar vessels.

I purpose to claim, in addition to the combination set forth, the article consisting of the cap herein described having the marginal detachable strip and the tongue projecting therefrom alread ybent to the form shown, whereby it is adapted to be conveniently applied, without changing its shape, to a canhead having a groove a surrounding the filling-hole A".

I claim as my invention 1'. In combination with a can-head havin a filling-hole surrounded by an annular groove or depression, a cap having a conical, marginal,detachable strip provided with a tongue which is upturned from the edge of the cap to the top of the annular groove in the canhead and thence outwardly over said head.

2. As an article of manufacture, a sheetmetal filling-hole cap for can-heads, said cap having a conicahmarginal, detachable strip terminating in a tongue which is bent upwardly from the edge of the cap and thence outwardly, so as to lie free upon the plane surface of a can-head provided with a groove around its filling-hole, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN ZIMMERMAN. Witnesses:

M. E. DAYTON, ALBERT H. GRAVES. 

